British Museum Removes Writer’s Translations of Chinese Poetry After Being Accused of Copyright Infringement; ArtNews, June 21, 2023

Karen K. Ho,  ArtNews; British Museum Removes Writer’s Translations of Chinese Poetry After Being Accused of Copyright Infringement

"The British Museum has removed translations of poetry by a Chinese revolutionary from one of its exhibitions after a translator alleged that her work was used without permission or payment. 

Vancouver-based editor, poet, and translator Yilin Wang said she did not receive any credit or reimbursement for their translations when they appeared in “China’s Hidden Century,” which opened on May 18 and includes translations of poetry by Qiu Jin, a feminist and revolutionary that the New York Times dubbed “China’s Joan of Arc.”...

On June 21, the British Museum’s spokesperson sent ARTnews a statement that said, “Recently we realised that permissions and acknowledgement for a translation by Yilin Wang had been inadvertently omitted from our exhibition China’s hidden century. This was an unintentional human error for which the Museum has apologised to Yilin Wang.”

The statement confirmed that the museum listened to Wang’s request to take down their translations in the exhibition. “We have also offered financial payment for the period the translations appeared in the exhibition as well as for the continued use of quotations from their translations in the exhibition catalogue. The catalogue includes an acknowledgement of their work. We continue to be in discussion with Yilin Wang.”

The museum’s statement also called the criticism its staff has recently received on social media “unacceptable,” noting, “It is through their scholarship and efforts, and those of their collaborators, that we have been able to present this period of Chinese history, through people-centred stories, to the thousands visiting the China’s hidden century temporary exhibition at the British Museum. We stand behind our colleagues fully and request those responsible for these personal attacks to desist as we work with Yilin Wang to resolve the issues they have raised concerning the use of their translations within the exhibition.”"